I want crunchy, salty nuts

[Patsy]

for my salads! How I miss crunchy sunflower seeds! But I've been 100% raw for 1 month now and boy could I tell the difference when I tried a few run of the mill salted sunflower seeds on my salad the other night! Like a bunch of golf balls in my stomach - ugh!

So I'm reading everything I can find about soaking/sprouting nuts and getting overwhelmed (again!) I am not ready for the sprouting thing (and I do have Rhio's book, and Mr. Sproutman's books and a pile of others).

All I want is to make my own not dead salty, crunchy sunflower seeds for my salads, but I can't seem to find a simple answer in all of Internetville!

So here's what I'm thinking:

Soak a bunch of raw sunflower or pumpkin (pepitos, right?) seeds as directed before the sprouting happens. Drain them, salt them, and stick 'em in the dehydrator for a few hours. Right? Will they get crunchy? or at least not so chewy as raw?

Thanks for any input! :)

[Rawkinlocs]

You just answered your own question! :D

Yes, just soak them and then you can do one of two things:

1. Season/salt them and then dehydrate (may take drying overnight to really get them where you want them...the longer they dry, the crunchier they get) or...

2. Dehydrate them for a few hours (about 4) then season/salt them and put them back in for another 4 hours or so.

After 6-8 hours, check the crunch factor to see if they're how you like them and if not, dry them a bit longer until they are how you want them.

This can be done with any nuts and seeds. And for either variation, I suggest tossing the nuts/seeds in a little olive oil or other oil of choice prior to seasoning/salting them.

Happy crunching!

[Raediance]

Hi. These are great and I have actually been craving them. From Gabrielle Chavez, The Raw Food Gourmet: (Great book by the way)

Crunchies
2 C Raw, hulled sunflower seeds, soaked overnight and drained
1/4 C nama shoyu
2 T nutritional yeast
1 tsp sea salt
1/4 tsp cayenne (adjust to your liking)

Stir everything together, then dry on Dehydrator sheets overnight or until crunchy.

There are also lots of other spiced nut/seed recipes out there, but this is my favorite! Enjoy!

[Patsy]

Thank you, thank you Rae... and Raw... for your replies :)

I will be dehydrating on the deck tonight!